Girls and Gloomy Days
by Paige Collins
Summary: Harry and Ron, on a gloomy day, talk about asking people out and girls. Harry talks about Cho Chang, and Ron talks about Hermione and they both discover a new meaning to the "L" word.


Girls and Gloomy Days  
By: Paige Collins  
Author's Note: Meghan~Jinx is going to come after me with a can of that cheese stuff now. Oh, wait, I think I see her now. ::screams:: Spare me, Meghan! She's practicing these ballet moves now. Wait, did she break her toe? Oh, and how I know about how the little windows look like when it rains is we have window is that in my school library. It's been bad weather lately and I have a library class every Monday, Wednesday and Friday or every Tuesday or Thursday, so I've been in there a lot. :)  
  
  
  
As the sky darkened, the mood Harry was in got darker. Out of the window, that was near where Harry was sitting, he saw dark, black clouds looming over, casting a dark, spooky shadow over everything. Only a hint of light was visible on the horizon, beyond all the black clouds.  
That was the way Harry felt.  
"Hey, Harry," said Ron gloomily, sitting down beside him and frowning at he weather. "Terrible weather we're having?" He looked at Harry. "What...what's wrong?"  
Harry shrugged. "Nothing."  
"You're aren't usually quiet," said Ron. "Is something the matter?"  
Harry shrugged again. "It's too gloomy out, Ron." He jerked his head towards the window and the dark, gray sky. "Too gloomy if you ask me."  
Ron smiled. "Ever been in a room where theres like, I dunno, windows are the ceiling or something and it rains? The whole room becomes brighter."  
Harry smiled too and looked out the window. He then wished the Gryffindor common room had little windows on the ceiling, so he could watch the rain splatter down on them like it was on the window.  
"Raining," muttered Harry. "Raining."  
Ron laughed.  
"What?" asked Harry, startled. "What?"  
Ron smiled. "Nothing."  
"What?"  
Ron tried not to laugh as he explained his sudden burst of laughter. He had, as it sounded like, thought about all little creatures in the woods.  
"And that's funny...?"  
Ron shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not very sane when it's gloomy out. Kind of depressing thought if you ask me."  
"Yeah." Harry got up and pressed his nose against the glass. "Ron?" he asked, not looking up, though he faintly saw Ron's reflection in the window.  
"Hmmm?" said Ron behind him.  
"Nothing." Harry sighed and returned to his seat, flashing a quick glance at the rain lashing at the window, the sky now a dull gray color. "Where's Hermione?"  
Ron shrugged. "Library?"  
Harry smiled. They both knew their other best friend, Hermione Granger, loved to go to the library sometimes.  
Harry shrugged too. "Library no doubt."  
There was a sudden squeal.  
"What was that?!" cried Ron, looking around, very startled. "Who...who screamed?"  
"I dunno," said Harry, just as startled, and his eyes wandered to the girls' dormitories staircase, and watched as Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil raced down the stairs, looked quite delighted.  
They were heading towards Harry and Ron.  
"Is something wrong?" asked Ron, looking white. "Is there something...the matter?"  
"You'll never guess what!" squealed Parvati.  
"Uh..." said Harry.  
"You really, really won't guess," said Lavender, "who asked Hermione out!"  
"Someone asked Hermione out?" Ron asked, putting on a disapproving frown.  
"Yeah!"  
"Who?" asked Harry.  
Parvati and Lavender exchanged excited glances. It was Parvati who spoke. "It was...Seamus!"  
Harry smiled. He wouldn't have guessed Seamus. "No! Seamus Finnigan?"  
"Who else?" asked Lavender, looking at Harry oddly. "He told us earlier he needed to see Hermione and we were looking for her when we came upon her in her dorm room."   
"She was reading a letter from someone," said Parvati. "I snatched it away and found out that...that Seamus had already found her!"  
They both giggled.  
"That's nice," said Ron, forcing a smile.  
Parvati smiled back. "I knew you guys would like to know...being her best friends and all."  
"Really wanted to know," said Harry pleasently.  
And then Parvati and Lavender skipped off across the common room.  
"You know, would you consider asking one of them out?" Ron asked suddenly, looking at Harry. "I mean, Parvati and Lavender are pretty."  
"I thought Lavender and Seamus were together," said Harry, watching Lavender hug at complete sixth year stranger.   
"I thought you and Parvati were together," Ron said. "It may be there one minute, then gone the next. That's the way romance is."  
Harry looked at Ron. Not Ron, he'd expect in a million years, to say something like that. "What about Hermione?"  
Ron looked startled. "She's with Seamus though."  
Harry smiled. "So you like her, do you?"  
Ron looked annoyed. "No...I mean, she's pretty, Seamus is cute...I'm only saying that because he is. Or at least that's what Hermione said," Ron said quickly as Harry gave him an odd look.  
"Hermione is pretty," admitted Harry. "And I'm only saying that from a best friend point of view."  
Ron was quite. "Hey, Harry?"  
"Hmm?"  
"Who would you like to ask out?"  
Harry was also quiet. He wasn't sure Ron knew this or not, but he liked Cho Chang, but could he admit he liked her? "I don't know."  
"Oh, come on...Harry, I already said who I'd like to ask out, you tell me who you'd like to ask out now." He looked at Harry. "Come on," he pleaded. "There has to be at least one girl..."  
Harry looked away and pretended to be interested in the rain outside, which was getting worse. "Um..."  
"Ohhhhhh...so there is..."  
"I'll tell you." Harry looked at Ron seriously. "But you have to promise...promise...that you won't tell a soul."  
"I promise."  
"Okay." Harry leaned closer and lowered his voice to whisper. "Cho...Cho Chang."  
"Cho Chang? You LIKE Cho Chang?!" bellowed Ron.  
"Shut up...they hear us!" Harry cried. "Be quiet Ron!"  
Ron began to laugh. "You like Cho? As in pretty, Ravenclaw, Quidditch player Cho Chang?" He gasped. "You have a crush on her?"  
"No...and keep your voices down," hissed Harry. He also lowered his voice, wishing Ron would too. "I like her, ahh, er, a bit."  
"Didn't you ask her to the Yule Ball last year?"  
"Yeah," snorted Harry. "But that was last year, though."  
"But that doesn't make a difference," pointed out Ron.  
"It does if I want it to," said Harry stubbornly. A couple of older girls, who were walking past them, giggled. "Besides, she went with Cedric Diggory."  
"But the point is she was the one you asked out," Ron said. "Which must mean you have SOME feelings for her."  
"You went with that girl," Harry said. "That Patil girl...Parvati's sister. And Neville went with Ginny and all and you don't see them hanging around together."  
"But...okay, good point, but it's different. Why Cho?"  
Harry paused before answering. He often had pondered this: why Cho Chang? Why didn't he have a crush on some other girl, but why Cho? "I dunno know why Cho."  
"Admit it, Harry, you like the girl," said Ron with a smile. "You really like her, don't you? I won't be loud."  
"Why is it any of your business who I like and don't like?" snapped Harry.  
"I do know who you don't like...Draco Malfoy," said Ron. "So that reeeally makes things easier."  
"He's a boy though."  
Rons shrugged. "He's close to a girl as any guy can be."  
Harry stifled a loud laugh. "Yeah. I know."  
Both of them laughed.  
"He went with Pansy Parkinson," Ron said. "Not Crabbe or Goyle, which surprised me."  
"Me too...besides, Pansy is as close as a guy as any girl can get."  
They both laughed again.  
"You wouldn't catch me dead with her," said Ron, with a slightly disgusted look on his face. "I think she was the only one who would go with Malfoy and Malfoy was the only one who would go with her. I reckon Malfoy had been asked by either Crabbe or Goyle...or both. Maybe they went together. Who knows?"  
Harry laughed softly. It was true though. Neither of them had a date. "That never occured to me, Ron."  
"Me neither...till just now," said Ron. "Get out of my mind thought!" Ron pretended to shudder.  
"That is pretty...nasty," said Harry. "Weird..."  
"That's enough Harry..."  
"Crabbe and Goyle..."  
"Harry."  
"Okay...okay...but the thought is weird."  
"You heard me Harry. I just had dinner."  
They both laughed again.   
"What if Malfoy went with Cho? You'd hate him even more, wouldn't you?"  
Harry blushed. "I don't like her, okay? Geez, I thought we were over that Ron. Besides, I would be mad...I did ask her...only because she's pretty."  
Ron laughed. "So she's pretty now, is she?"  
"She was before." Harry couldn't help it...he grinned from ear to ear. "She really was...I admit it, if that's what takes to make you happy, I like her a bit."  
"More than a bit..."  
"No."  
"You're madly in love with her...her face swims before your eyes every night before you go to bed. Admit it."  
Harry, of course, would never admit this, although Ron was exactly true. He did think about Cho a lot.  
"Who do you like Ron?"  
There was silence among the two.  
"Do I really have to tell you?"  
"I told you, Ron," said Harry, a very triumphant grin spreading across his face. "It's only fair, isn't it?"  
"I never said that. Besides, I don't really like anyone right now. I'm single," he said, he added this with a grin. "Okay Hermione."  
"You LIKE Hermione?!"  
Ron blushed redder than his hair. "Keep it down, Harry, will you? I don't like her, but if I had to like anyone, I'd like her. And that's that."  
"No, it isn't," said Harry, feeling very evil. "You like her."  
"Do not!"  
"Do too!"  
"Do not!"  
"Do not!"  
"Do too...ahhh, Harry!"  
Harry giggled like Lavender or Parvati would.  
Ron looked at his watch. He frowned both his watch and the cloudy gray mess of rain and sky outside the window. "It's getting late, you know."  
"Really?" Harry hadn't noticed it, but it was dark out then. There was a barely flickering sun set, even though thick dark clouds hung around the sky and rain lashed out at the window.  
Ron sighed. "I'm going up to the dorm."  
Harry felt disappointed. He really was having a good time with Ron, laughing and discussing things...he didn't want any of it to really end. "Why? Are you really?"  
Ron shrugged. "Yeah. I've got something to do. Wanna come?"  
Harry waved his hand idly in front of him. "Nah, don't want to come. I'll come up later, okay?" He looked across the Gryffindor common room and saw Seamus Finnigan going up to the boys' dorms. "Seamus is going up."  
Ron nodded. He turned around and walked the opposite way, his face looking red a bit. Harry thought he regretted their whole conversation. And, as Harry looked out at the tangled mess of sun set, thick dark gray clouds, darkness and rain outside the window, he really kind of thought so too.  
  
  
  
Author's Note: Ron and Harry were a bit out of character and a little chidish there. But, they were having a good time, I guess, so being stupid with friends isn't a real crime is it? Hehe. I like this one. I've been reading parts of it to Meghan of the Jinx Variety. We laughed a lot. Meghan's crying over that song "Graduation" now. Hehehehe. Please review. I'd like to know what you think about this story. (Meghan and I just shook hands, betting that she wouldn't cry. I think she won't.)  



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